Monthly Archives: March 2015

Tulsa Oklahoma and Grand Lake Site Of 2016 Bassmasters Classic

Bassmaster Classic To Return To Tulsa, Okla., and Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees in March 2016

TULSA, Okla. — The world championship of bass fishing — the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro — will return to one of its most popular destinations in 2016, B.A.S.S. and the event’s Oklahoma hosts announced today. And for the first time, the “Super Bowl of Bass Fishing” will be conducted in early March instead of February.

“The 2013 Classic was such a tremendous success, we couldn’t wait to return to Tulsa and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees with our premier event,” said Bruce Akin, B.A.S.S. CEO. “With the support we’ve received from our hosts and our bass fishing fans throughout the region, we’re expecting an even better turnout next year.”

Hosts of the 2016 Classic will be Tulsa Regional Chamber, VisitTulsa, Grand Lake Association and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.

“We’re so excited to finally say the Bassmaster Classic is coming back to Tulsa,” said Ray Hoyt, president of VisitTulsa. “We worked our tails off in 2013 to ensure this event was a huge success because we wanted to show our partners at B.A.S.S., and other major league events, what a great place the Tulsa region is. We wanted another Classic the minute the 2013 event was over, and today we can finally say it out loud: The Classic comes back in 2016. A huge thanks to our regional partners, especially Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, for their support in making this a reality.”

“To land the Bassmaster Classic for the second time truly speaks to the staff at the City of Tulsa, Tulsa Regional Chamber and the BOK Center,” Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett said. “Thanks to the hard work by many, the 2013 Bassmaster Classic was an astounding success and speaks volumes to why Bassmaster selected Tulsa for the championship in 2016. We hope the region will embrace the championship when it heads back to Tulsa as it is sure to bring more excitement and visitors from around the country and give an economic boost to our community.”

Since 2006, Bassmaster Classics have all been held the third or fourth weekend in February, but the 46th championship has been moved to March 4-6, 2016, to better accommodate anglers’ and sponsors’ preseason schedules and other industry events.

“If moving the event improves odds of good fishing weather, that’s a bonus,” Akin added. “But we proved in 2013 as well as the recent Classic on Lake Hartwell, S.C., that freezing temperatures don’t hamper the anglers’ fishing success, nor do they hurt attendance.”

The Tulsa Classic in 2013 recorded the second highest attendance in history, with more than 106,850 fans visiting one or more of the Classic venues. The attendance record of 137,700 was set at another February Classic, the 2009 event in Shreveport-Bossier City, La.

Hoyt said the economic impact of the first Tulsa Classic was $22.7 million.

“We’re proud that we could help bring the Bassmaster Classic back to Oklahoma, and to beautiful Grand Lake,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker. “Everything between Tulsa and Grand Lake is part of the Cherokee Nation, and we are delighted to showcase our magnificent scenery to the thousands of visitors this event will bring. Most importantly, this partnership and the out of town dollars spent in northeast Oklahoma will be an economic boon to many small Cherokee-owned businesses in our area.”

As in the first Tulsa Classic, the BOK Center will house daily weigh-ins, and the Cox Business Center will hold the Classic Outdoors Expo. Takeoffs each day will be from Wolf Creek Ramp in Grove, Okla. As many as 5,000 fans braved freezing temperatures to watch the Classic anglers set out on competition days in 2013.

Cliff Pace of Petal, Miss., won the Classic championship title that year with 54 pounds, 12 ounces of bass for three days of fishing. A total of 55 anglers will qualify for next year’s event through the Bassmaster Elite Series and other Bassmaster circuits during the coming 10 months.

Eleven Oklahoma anglers — 10 percent of the Elite Series field — will be gunning for berths in the event, including Scott Ashmore of Broken Arrow, Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Jason Christie of Park Hill, James Elam of Tulsa, Edwin Evers of Talala, Kenyon Hill of Norman, Jeff Kriet of Ardmore, Kevin Ledoux of Choctaw, Jared Miller of Norman, Fred Roumbanis of Bixby and Dave Smith of Del City.

Total purse will be more than $1 million, with the winner receiving $300,000.

Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees was completed in 1940, when Pensacola Dam on the Grand River impounded 46,500 acres. Previous Elite Series events there have been won by Mike McClelland and Kevin VanDam in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Akin said moving the event to March will minimize scheduling conflicts with boat and sports shows typically scheduled in January and February, yet it will still be early enough in the year to serve as a kickoff of the fishing season. Manufacturers in recent years have been using the Classic Outdoors Expo as the venue to introduce exciting new products to the bass fishing world.

About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S. is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the 500,000-member organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), television show (The Bassmasters on ESPN2), social media programs and events. For more than 45 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.

The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open Series presented by Allstate, Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation events, Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Costa Bassmaster High School Series, Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team Championship and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro.

Costa’s Kick Plastic Campaign

Costa Starts to Kick Plastic: Brand on Mission to Keep Plastic Out of Oceans
submitted

Daytona Beach, Fla. – March 5, 2015 – A swirling, floating, melting mess of plastic trash and debris roughly the size of Texas spins in an ever-growing orbit in the North Pacific ocean, known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Discarded plastic cooks in the sun’s rays, and oozes into miniscule pieces too small to be collected and removed from the water.

This plastic sea soup continues to grow and threaten the globe, with similar garbage patches spotted in oceans around the world. Already, more than one million sea birds have been killed as a result, and two-thirds of the world’s fish now test positive for plastic in their system.

Disposable items like plastic water bottles are huge contributors to the problem. Humans produce more than 200 billion plastic water bottles per year, with at least 10 percent ending up in the ocean.

Costa, a company committed to sustainable sport fishing practices and ocean conservation, launched a campaign this week to educate its customers about the growing ocean trash issue, and encourage them to kick the plastic habit.

“Our hope is that we can spark real conversations within our own fishing and outdoor communities about the grave dangers facing our oceans,” said Perkinson. “This isn’t some distant problem, this is an issue that directly impacts all of us in the sport fishing industry. Simple changes such as carrying a reusable bag to the store, drinking out of a permanent water bottle and recycling the plastic we do use can significantly reduce the amount of trash making its way into our oceans.”

The company produced a short animated video to more simply explain the plastic problem. To watch the clip, click here: http://bit.ly/kickplasticvid.

Costa also dedicated a page on its website to the “Kick Plastic” campaign, complete with news articles covering the issue, tips on ways people can reduce their own plastic habits, and showcasing people already making changes to clean up their acts. The hash tag #KickPlastic connects conversations happening on social media.

The company is currently evaluating its own operational procedures, and developing short and long-range plans on how it can reduce the amount of plastic it uses in its production process.

For more information on Costa’s Kick Plastic message, or to join in the global movement, visit http://bit.ly/kickplastic.

About Costa™

As the leading manufacturer of the world’s clearest polarized performance sunglasses, Costa offers superior lens technology and unparalleled fit and durability. Still handcrafted today in Florida, Costa has created the highest quality, best performing sunglasses and prescription sunglasses (Rx) for outdoor enthusiasts since 1983.

For Costa, conservation is all about sustainable fishing. Many fisheries that should be vibrant and healthy are all but devoid of native fish because they have fallen victim to poor fishing practices, unregulated development, lack of watershed protection or all of the above. Costa works with partners around the world to help increase awareness and influence policy so that both the fish and fishermen of tomorrow will have healthy waters to enjoy. Costa encourages others to help in any way they can.

Supreme Court Ruled Owning A Gun Is A Right In 2008 – Does It Make A Difference?

Gun owners dodged a bullet in 2008 when the Supreme Court confirmed gun ownership is an individual right. In a five to four ruling the Court said a handgun ban in Washington, DC was unconstitutional because the 2nd Amendment is an individual right.

What does this ruling mean to us? Probably not as much as we hope. It was a bare majority that ruled in our favor so it could be easily overturned. The ruling applies only to Washington, DC so new court cases will have to determine if it applies to all citizens of the US and all states. And anti-gun politicians, media and groups will fight our rights every step of the way.

It is amazing that four Supreme Court justices could say the 2nd Amendment is not an individual right. These are the same four justices that found some kind of constitutional right for one of the most despicable type criminal, a child rapists. Those justices said child rapists could not be executed no matter how badly they hurt the child, unless they killed them. They said the lowlife had some constitutional right to be kept alive, but you and I don’t have the right to own a gun.

Those four justices also found some constitutional right for foreign terrorists captured by our military in other countries. They said those terrorists had the same constitutional rights as United States citizens to our courts. Foreign soldiers captured in battle don’t have those rights, but according to the four justices, terrorists do.

I grew up around guns. They are tools that I can use for hunting, sport shooting and self protection. Anyone can misuse a tool but rational people don’t blame the tool for its misuse.

There is some kind of disconnect from reality when it comes to guns by some people. One of the most amazing comments I have seen about the Supreme Court ruling was by Scripts News Service writer Dan K. Thomasson who wrote “Most disturbing was Scalia’s reasoning that residents of this city — and before long probably every other city — can now hold off a bandit with a gun in one hand while dialing the police with another.”

I hope I will have a gun if I catch a bandit, whether I use my other hand to call the police or not. I am sure Thomasson would rather we cower in a corner while the bandit does whatever he wants to do to us, probably with his illegal gun.

Although the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting this decision does protect hunters, too. At least it protects us until the Supreme Court gets one more judge that thinks child rapists and terrorists have rights you and I don’t have.

Then presidential candidate Barak Obama was shown in an interview nodding his head and saying yes, he supported the DC gun ban. But he also says he believes the 2nd Amendment is an individual right. Talk about “doublespeak” and a disconnect from reality! How can you believe we have a right to “keep and bear arms” while supporting a law that makes it illegal to own a gun? His actions, especilly the recent ammo ban, has proved he is against the 2nd Amendment.

Is there any question what kind of Supreme Court justice Obama would nominate?

Scalia also wrote in the majority opinion: “it is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” And “the court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.”

One gun banner grabbed on this and said “In other words, the debate will continue over such common-sense reforms as background checks on gun sales, restricting bulk sales of handguns and tougher penalties on crooked gun dealers. In fact, by making it clear that such laws do not violate the Constitution, Scalia’s opinion makes it harder to raise Second Amendment objections to such legislation.”

Scalia said nothing about background checks or other “sensible” laws like a limit of one gun purchase a month. What is sensible? According to many gun banners, the DC law prohibiting the ownership of a handgun was “sensible!” To them a complete ban on gun ownership is “sensible.”

We won a victory but the war rages on.

Winning A February Tournament At Lake Sinclair

At Sinclair 12 members of the Sportsman Club fished our February tournament on a rainy but fairly warm day. We had 35 keepers weighing about 62 pounds. There were five five-fish limits and only two fishermen didn’t have a keeper in the 8.5 hours we fished.

I was lucky enough to get five weighing 10.98 pounds for first, Billy Roberts had five at 10.36 pounds for second and big fish with a 3.57 pound largemouth, third was Niles Murray with five at 8.83 pounds and fourth was Zane Fleck with five at 8.15 pounds. Those weights were fairly close but for big fish I had a 3.53 pounder and Raymond English had a 3.50 pounder. The three biggest fish were separated by seven hundredths of a pound!

I have had a good year fishing with a Rapala DT 6 in crawfish. Of the four tournaments I have fished this year I have two first, one second and one fifth place, all on that one plug. I have weighed in 14 keepers and all but two of them hit it. I think I will keep fishing it!

Sunday morning I started on a steep rocky bank with docks and brush on it but didn’t get a bite. My second stop was on a point with a good drop on one side, then a very shallow clay flat for about 30 yards before a series of docks start I fished the point without a bite then started toward the first dock.

I usually don’t fish the shallow flat in February but I cast the DT 6 up into about two feet of water as I headed toward the dock, and caught a 3.5 pound largemouth. That got my attention so I started hitting the flat hard. It took 30 minutes, but then I got the 3.53 pound keeper, my big fish. A couple of casts later I got a third fish about 1.5 pounds.

After switching to a jig head worm I got my fourth keeper, one about 1.5 pounds. I felt pretty good, especially after working down the docks and catching a short fish by a dock post, then a keeper about 1.3 pounds on the next cast. I had a limit.

With an hour left to fish I was back on the flat and got a 2 pounder on the crankbait, culling my smallest keeper. I missed a bite on a jig head worm and on a Alabama rig, and had one come off the crankbait before I saw the fish, but I didn’t need them to win. But would one of them have been big fish? I will never know.

Are Public Lands Important To Steelhead and Smallmouth Bass Fishing?

Steelhead, Smallmouth Bass and the Importance of Public Lands

Today’s feature comes to us from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and explores a question that applies in many parts of the nation right now as both federal and state land management agencies feel the squeeze of tightened budgets.

by Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
from The Fishing Wire

Do you have a secret spot you like to access to fish your favorite run? Maybe your spot is accessed through public BLM or Forest Service land?

Public land fishing

Public land fishing


Image courtesy of Marty Sheppard/Little Creek Outfitters.

I have a few spots like this and remember a place I use to hike to that later was closed to the public. I remember thinking in frustration, “How could someone do that?” As a sportsman, outfitter and mother, I believe that one of the most important challenges of our time is to maintain public access to places we like to fish. I want my daughter to enjoy the same experiences and opportunities that I have had.

Some of the state’s best fishing for steelhead, trout and smallmouth bass occurs on rivers and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.

For example, the John Day River is the third longest undammed river in the Lower 48. It also is a stronghold for wild steelhead. The John Day is in my backyard, and, as a local fishing outfitter, I take pride in sharing this river with visitors and other anglers.

My husband and I have outfitted on the John Day River since 2001 and annually bring close to 180 people to our community, where they fish, shop, stay in hotels and eat at local restaurants. Anglers are mesmerized by the rimrock canyons, smell of juniper and solitude experienced on a John Day River float. These experiences connect visitors with something greater than themselves while at the same time support a major component of Oregon’s rural economy. Public lands are a boon for those who travel from across the country to enjoy them, as well as those who call these places home.

A couple years ago, I met a hunter who believed the balance between federal and local control of public lands in southeast Oregon was skewed in the wrong direction. As we talked about public lands in Oregon, he said, “We need to take back the management of our land from the federal government and have states control it.”

At the time I wasn’t aware of the debate over public lands management that was happening in Utah and other Western states, where legislative efforts are under way to turn federal public lands over to the states.

I replied, “Are you sure that is a good thing? What will happen to our wildlife and habitat? Will that impact our access to hunting and fishing?”

His simple response: “We’ll still be able to do all that.”

Steelhead

Steelhead

Image courtesy of Marty Sheppard/Little Creek Outfitters.

I couldn’t agree with him then, and, knowing what I do now, I maintain that our public lands should continue to be managed by the federal government.

Like many other Oregonians, I view federally managed public lands as my playground. Hunters and anglers come from all over to experience the high-quality hunting, fishing and solitude available on public lands in Oregon. As a professional guide, I depend on my continued ability to share the beauty of our public lands with folks from across our great nation. These lands and other federal lands across Oregon provide wide-reaching economic benefits to individuals like me and other Oregonians who rely on outdoor opportunities for income.

The federal government holds these public lands in trust so current and future generations can enjoy the rich beauty and resources that they offer. If ownership of these resources were transferred to the states, the expense of managing them could be prohibitive, leading to their eventual sale to private interests. This scenario would likely result in the widespread loss of public access to these uniquely American lands and waters.

Public lands rightfully belong to the citizenry, including Oregonians who depend on them for quality habitat for fish and wildlife, access to abundant hunting and angling and economic security. In an increasingly crowded West where open space is rapidly becoming one of the rarest and most valuable assets of the Western lifestyle, ensuring that these lands stay in the public trust is more important now than ever before.

To support sportsmen’s access to our public lands, please visit www.sportsmensaccess.org and sign the petition.

TRCP’s Oregon Field Representative Mia Sheppard lives and breathes being on the water and chukar hunting the breaks of desert rivers. Her passion to share this with others has inspired her to become a two-time distance-casting champion, teacher of fly-fishing, and advocate for women and kids in hunting and fishing. Mia and her husband Marty Sheppard (rod caddy) own Little Creek Outfitters, guiding fly-fishing trips on Oregon rivers. When she isn’t working for the TRCP she can be found standing in a river with her husband or daughter chasing steelhead or planning the next adventure.

About Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

TRCP guarantees all Americans quality places to hunt and fish by uniting and amplifying their partners’ voices to strengthen federal policy and funding. For more info. visit www.trcp.org

Why Do Gun Control Supporters Ignore Facts?

After much compromise HB 89 passed both the Georgia Senate and House on the last day of the session in 2006. This bill relaxes a few of the restrictions on law-abiding gun owners a little but some folks have fought it as hard as possible. Now, seven years later, the foolishness of their crazy claims about what this law would do have been proven totally false. But they won’t let facts fool them into supporting removing restrictions on law-abiding gun owners, or in making more foolish claims.

Governor Perdue had not signed this bill in mid-April. He did sign it, but before he did I said please consider, as a gun owner, that vetoing this bill puts you on the side of those that say law abiding gun owners are dangerous and can’t be trusted. It puts you on the side of those wanting laws that affect law abiding citizens and have absolutely no effect on criminals.

Right now you can take a concealed gun into a restaurant if it does not sell alcohol. Under HB 89 those with concealed carry permits would be able to take their gun into a restaurant that sold alcohol if they not drink any themselves. Seems reasonable, but the Georgia Restaurant Association has done all it could to scuttle this bill and urged Governor Perdue to veto it.

That seems strange. It is legal right now to carry a gun into 75 to 80 percent of Georgia restaurants because they don’t serve alcohol, according to bill sponsor Representative Tim Bearden. (R 68) So why is it such a problem to that group? Do they represent only restaurants that serve alcohol? Why are they afraid of you and me?

I have been trying to get access to a list of all members of the Georgia Restaurant Association. If they don’t trust me to carry a gun I certainly don’t trust them to prepare my food safely! They list their officers and board members and the restaurants they own on their web site at http://www.garestaurants.org/about/

It is no surprise the Atlanta Journal Constitution was fighting a law that removes some of the restrictions on the civil rights of law abiding gun owners. Jay Bookman tried to play psychologists in a laughable column published in the Atlanta Constitution on April 10. He claimed gun owners wanted to carry their guns with them so they could play hero and save people.

Maybe Bookman has this complex and is trying to transfer it to others, but everyone I know with a carry permit, including me, wants to carry a gun for the same reason I carry a fire extinguisher in my truck. I have no desire to become a fireman or a hero saving others but I simply want to be able to take care of myself.

That seems to be a concept Bookman and his cronies can’t understand. Do they have fire extinguishers in their vehicles or are they willing to call for help if there is a fire and wait while it burns? How are guns different?

Bookman even admits in his column: “As a practical matter, those changes won’t matter much. The folks who want to drive around with a loaded pistol beneath their front seat are going to indulge in that foolishness regardless of what the law says. And armed permit holders won’t suddenly start using their weapons to either save or take lives in restaurants or parks.”

That Bookman knows this makes his other claims look even more foolish. If he knows and admits this bill would only affect law-abiding gun owners, not criminals, why is he so opposed to it?

Senator John Douglas (R 17) has been a strong supporter of this bill. In a letter to the Governor he stated: “Two years of work went into the final version of the bill and we took care of virtually every concern with the exception of those who would allow no gun rights. Please do not veto the bill.”

That, among other things, really makes another AJC columnist fighting gun owners rights look silly. In a column published on April 16 Maureen Downey claimed “House Bill 89 passed the General Assembly in the hectic final hours of the 2008 legislative session without any time for debate, catching both the public and law enforcement off guard.”

The bill was worked on for TWO YEARS. Seems folks at the AJC just can’t get their facts right on anything dealing with guns. Her column goes on to make many more incorrect claims. Fortunately, you no longer have to get your information from anti-gun biased sources like the AJC.

If this bill is still in limbo please let Governor Perdue know it is a good bill that needs to be signed by calling his office at 404-656-1776. Be polite, be short but be sure he knows you think this is a good bill.

An Unexpected Recognition At the Bassmasters Classic

An Unexpected Recognition
from The Fishing Wire
by Jim Shepherd

There are several awards the 56 anglers in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic were competing for this past weekend in Greenville, South Carolina, but no one was ready for an award ceremony at Friday’s weigh-in. After all, the three-day tournament didn’t conclude until yesterday.

But there was a recognition given to 15 year professional David Walker of Sevierville, Tennessee that took Walker, his fellow competitors and the spectators in attendance by surprise. Granted, Walker earned his much-deserved recognition on Hartwell Lake – but he did it during the final day of practice on Sunday, February 15.

While using the final day of practice fishing before the lake was closed to the Bassmaster competitors, Walker was upstream of Hartwell Dam and he noticed something floating in the 40-degree water. “It kinda looked strange,” Walker said, “but there was a boat ramp with people staring out at whatever it was about 300-400 yards offshore.”

When sheriff’s deputies flashed their lights at him, Walker decided to pull up his trolling motor and go check the object out.

What Walker thought was “an object floating in the water” was a very large, very tired Brandon Ardister. His boat had sunk several hundred yards offshore, leaving a very large, very cold and increasingly disoriented grownup to desperately try to stay afloat holding onto a child’s life preserver.

“He was making motions like he was swimming,” Walker related, “but he wasn’t going anywhere, and he looked to be in the early stages of hypothermia.”

As Walker cut off his main engine and used his trolling motor to approach Ardister he said his first comment was “well you picked a helluva day to go for a swim.”

Ardister told me he managed to tell Walker his boat had suddenly sunk, but he also realized that, barring something happening, he was probably only minutes from dying- one year to the day since the death of his mother.

Walker, on the other hand, had no intention of allowing Ardister to drown. “I knew I had to get him out of the water,” Walker related, “but I wasn’t sure how I’d do that -because he is a big guy. ”

Talking to keep Ardister engaged, Walker dropped down the rear ladder on his Ranger fishing boat and told the man he needed to use it to climb in. But the exhausted, cold and now only barely conscious, Ardister told Walker he’d hold the ladder and Walker could just ” tow him to shore.”

Walker realized Ardister was probably too-far gone to survive that. So, he related, ” told him you have GOT to get into this boat- now.” To help, Walker sat down on his back deck, dug in his heels and grabbed the fully dressed Ardister.

“He’s a big, strong guy,” Walker said, “and it took a couple of tries, but we finally got him past the tipping point where he sorta arm crawled in.”

Walker gets award

Walker gets award

Angler David Walker was honored by the Army Corps of Engineers for his good deed in saving a man from the frigid waters of Hartwell Lake on Sunday, February 10. Jim Shepherd/OWDN photo.

At that point, Walker raced the rapidly cooling Ardister to shore where sheriff’s deputies and an ambulance were waiting. After giving his name to a deputy, Walked went back to fishing, thinking the matter closed.

On Friday, he surprised by a formal recognition in the form of the Army’s Certificate of Appreciation presented by Savannah District Army Corps of Engineers commander Col. Thomas J. Tickner- accompanies by Brandon Ardister- the man Walker saved.

During the formal presentation, Col. Tickner explained the award was created by the Department of the Army to recognize civilians for accomplishments the Army felt were worthy of recognition.

“While we aren’t responsible for safety on the lake,” he explained, “but we appreciate the special actions taken by Mr. Walker. He saved another person’s life – but the impact of his saving a large man from freezing waters could potentially remind others to wear their life jackets, not just carry them on their boats. That could save several lives in the future as well.”

Afterwards, a surprised but obviously pleased, Walker chatted and posed for a seemingly endless stream of pictures standing alongside the man he’d saved. Several times during their time together, Walker could be heard telling Ardister how glad he was Ardister decided to come to the weigh-in ceremonies.

“I appreciate your being willing to share the story,” Walker said, “not everyone would want to do that.”

Very quiet and soft-spoken, Ardister didn’t seem especially comfortable with the situation, but told me that he hoped his own near-death experience in familiar waters with would remind other boaters that anytime is the right time to be wearing a life jacket.

Because, he said, “you never know what might happen-and not everyone would be so lucky as to have a David Walker nearby.”

Unfortunately for Walker, the big weight he pulled from Hartwell last Sunday proved to be his biggest catch of the Classic. But it is also a memory he says will always make the 2015 Bassmaster Classic special to him.

Wildly Varying Conditions At Bassmasters Classic

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, fishing is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. That applies to catching as well as the weather. Both can be widely different every time you go. The Bassmasters Classic at Lake Hartwell and a Spalding County Sportsman Club tournament last Sunday at Lake Sinclair both reinforced that idea.

Last Wednesday I rode with David Kilgore at Hartwell while he practiced one last day for the Classic. It was partly cloudy and 27 degrees when we started and the water was about 47 degrees and clear. I have a tough time catching bass when the water is colder than 50 degrees but David was happy with the water temperature.

Although he had fits with his line freezing in his guides and even had trouble with the trolling motor freezing in the rack between stops, he got about a dozen bites on his jig and swimbait. He had cut the hook off the jig since he did not want to catch any bass two days before the tournament, just locate them. We did see a couple that hit and held on to the jig in the clear water, and they were quality fish.

On Friday morning the air temperature was ten degrees, increasing the problems with everything freezing. Than goodness I had not scheduled to be a marshal on one of the boats. Marshalls just sit and watch as the pros fish, and they have to pay about $500 for the privilege of watching and freezing. I got to stay in a nice warm convention center all day for the outdoor show.

I was amazed that night at weigh-in when two of the pros had five bass limits weighing over 20 pounds, and many more had limits weighing over 15 pounds. David had a limit that weighed 14 pounds and was in the top 15 or so. His pattern was working.

The next morning it was a balmy 14 degrees. At launch it took some of the pros half an hour to get their boats off the trailers. The boat was frozen to the bunks on the trailers. Trolling motor problems and guide icing was a big problem that day, too, and many of the pros reported running to the place they wanted to fish and finding it covered with a sheet of ice.

David got another limit weighing 12 pounds and made the cut, fishing with the top 25 the last day. There were no 20 pound limits but several had over 15 pounds even under those conditions. Results varied widely. Randall Tharp had only four pounds the first day but had a 16 pound limit. The guys with over 20 pounds did not do as well, with one of them weighing in less than five pounds.

The last day at launch it was rainy and much warmer. By the end of the day the air was 50 degrees warmer than it had been at launch on Friday. The rain hurt David’s pattern, he was fishing docks and the bright sun was positioning fish in specific areas of the docks. Clouds don’t make them do that.

But Casey Ashley had over 20 pounds that final day and came from fifth place to win with 15 bass weighing over 50 pounds in three days. There were many other good catches that day, too. The top pros fishing the Classic can catch fish under terrible, changing conditions. But some of them didn’t do well, even they never know what they are going to get.

One interesting fact to me from the results. Five of the fishermen were amateurs that qualified through the Bass Nation Federation. They are club fishermen like me, just better. But three of the four zeros in the tournament were the federation fishermen. Most of us don’t know how to adjust to changing conditions like the pros do.

The Classic was an amazing experience. I hope the one next year is close enough for me to go, but I heard rumors it was going to be back on Grand Lake in Oklahoma where it was held in 2013. Cities pay big bucks, somewhere over $50,000, to get the Classic to come to their town. There is a reason. A city hosting the Classic can expect around #20,000,000 in revenue from it.

Can A Dockworkers Strike Affect My Fishing?

Dockworkers Strike Keeps Fishing Gear From Anglers
from The Fishing Wire

“We have hundreds of containers sitting offshore right now,” one fishing industry executive told me last week at the Bassmaster Classic, “the country’s losing hundreds of millions of dollars every day and the administration doesn’t even seem to notice-or care.”

Thousands of containers on hundreds of ships clogging ports on the west coast may finally begin to unload as a tentative five-year agreement has been reached after nine months of extremely contentious negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). On Friday evening, the groups issued their joint announcement crediting Labor Secretary Ray Perez with helping break the stalemate.

These latest rancorous disturbance is really nothing unprecedented in a rocky relationship that traces its roots back to the great depression. This latest slowdown was never really a strike, because dockworkers used what owners called “questionable safety violations” to slow work to a crawl. In retaliation, the owners cutting nights, weekends and overtime hours in retaliation.

But not everything is immediately back to normal. Industry officials I’ve spoken with tell me it will take “some time” go get supplies of finished goods and manufacturing components back to normal levels. The Port of Los Angeles, for example, has as many as 54 ships waiting to offload and hundreds of containers sitting on the docks waiting to be processed.

Bassmasters Classic Outdoor show

Bassmasters Classic Outdoor show

Crowds of consumers walked, shopped and even purchased product as the 2015 Bassmaster Classic visited Greenville, South Carolina. Jim Shepherd/OWDN photo

The Port of Oakland says it may need eight weeks to catch up with processing, and that it, like Los Angeles, will work to offload perishables and other needed cargo as priority items.

As the fishing crazy crowd wandered through the exhibits of the 2015 Bassmaster Classic, they really had no way of knowing that many of the new items on display weren’t available for purchase. That’s because, as one exec told me, “they don’t know just how deeply this slowdown has cut into the country’s safety net of product supply.”

Overall, the mood at this year’s Classic was improved over the last couple of events. The mood was lightened somewhat last year as boat manufacturers reported they were finally seeing a consumer resurgence after four years of a faltering economy. This year several manufacturers tell me their big challenge isn’t rolling out new product, it’s keeping up with demand.

Upgrades to existing boats remained a hot market, but manufacturers like Rigid Industries, manufacturers of high-end performance LED lighting for vehicles, say that while demand remains strong in that category, many new buyers are planning the lighting upgrades into their original purchasing budgets.